Going in cold sure recipe for disaster
THE WARM-UP HAS GONE, IT’S MOVEMENT PREP, WRITES JACOB GRAMS AND JORDAN GERRANS
SOMETIMES the build-up to the big game is almost as exciting as the game itself but when it comes to athletes in their pre-game warm-up, it’s arguably more important.
After all, if players don’t prepare their bodies for what they’re about to put them through, they ultimately can’t perform at their peak.
But, even the term “warmup” is now old hat.
The modern version is “movement prep” and it’s something Northern Pride strength and conditioning coach Jonnie Walker says is “absolutely crucial” to elite performance.
“The old boxing saying is ‘If you go in cold, you’ll come out cold’,” he said.
“Back in the day we called it a warm-up, but we’ve got a lot more modern now.”
The Pride generally split into four or five groups for pre-game drills, generally position-based, and can individualise pending the overall wellbeing of players, some who may be making their return from injury.
“It depends on the positions of the different guys but typically it might be things like explosive jumps, band work, explosive sprinting and it could be things like getting off the ground,” Walker said.
FNQ Heat coach Tim Campbell said while pre-game was important to help condition the players towards how they will start the game, he saw recovery as the most important part of his side’s off-field game day activities.
“We have a very structured timeline from about two hours out, so depending on the kickoff time, we just alter that structure. The bit we concentrate on a lot more is the recovery,” he said.
“For 30 minutes before basically we’re out there for the warm-up then we come in and get strapped and ready and have a final talk.”
Campbell said they then finish it off with a skill drill.
Campbell said that might change in the coming weeks on the back of a strengthening relationship with James Cook University.
“We’re about to enter, hopefully, a really good relationship with JCU, who are going to offer us a candidate and actually take us through the preparation, which will be a long way earlier than what we do,” he said.
“We just concentrate on when we arrive at the ground, they’ll talk to us about nutrition and travel advice as well, but it’s the post-match stuff we concentrate on.”
North Cairns Tigers coach Iaon Drake said he likes to keep the pre-training period straight forward at Watsons Oval.
“We keep it pretty basic with our warm-ups, pretty stock standard,” Drake said.
“We do try to vary our training, where we will go down to the pool to mix it up but warm-up wise we keep it simple.
“You cannot just go out there and play, you need to get loose and get ready.”